Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory

Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory
DSS 51 at Hartebeesthoek
Alternative namesHartRAO Edit this at Wikidata
Organization
LocationGauteng, Transvaal region
Coordinates25°53′25″S 27°41′08″E / 25.89037°S 27.68558°E / -25.89037; 27.68558
Established
  • Deep Space Station 51 - 1961; 63 years ago (1961)
  • Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory - 1975; 49 years ago (1975)
Websitewww.hartrao.ac.za Edit this at Wikidata
Telescopes
  • HartRAO 26m Radio Telescope
  • MeerKAT prototype dish Edit this on Wikidata
Map
  Related media on Commons
[edit on Wikidata]

The Hartebeesthoek Radio Astronomy Observatory (HartRAO) is a radio astronomy observatory, located in a natural bowl of hills at Hartebeesthoek just south of the Magaliesberg mountain range, and about 50 km west of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. It is a National Research Facility run by South Africa's National Research Foundation. HartRAO was the only major radio astronomy observatory in Africa until the construction of the KAT-7 test bed for the future MeerKAT array in the Meerkat National Park.